funny. i'm sorry. you hear this next one repeated many times. it came from ronald reagan during his debate with jimmy carter. reagan posed a simple question. >> are you better off than you were four years ago? >> four years later president reagan was 73 facing concerns about his age, an issue compounded by his shaky first debate and then turned the weakness into a strength with this line. >> i want you to know that also i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> bill clinton was on the other side of that equation while debating another 73 year old. this one was former senator bob dole. clinton handled the issue this way. >> i don't think senator bill is too old to be president. it's the age of his ideas that i question. >> so we'll have to wait and see if there is a memorable moment tonight that can shape the final month of the race. sometimes it is a one liner. sometimes it is a facial expression. >>> white house soup of the day. that is good soup. i wish i were eating it today. coconut sh

and when did it happen? >> ronald reagan. >> you got it. >> ronald reagan, 1980. >> '84. >> that's right. i think you both get a sticker for that one. ronald reagan in 1984 and obviously, he was at the time 73. he was running against mondale who was 56. cleaned mondale's clock. age was not used against reagan. >>> parker is back. >> nothing but a number. >> nothing but a number. parker is back for the second one. >> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> jamaal. >> lloyd benson in the vice presidential debate and you remembered it was lloyd benson. good job. >> nerdland for a reason. >> what state, jamaal? >> he was from texas. >> does anybody remember what dan quayle said in response? >> he said that's uncalled for. >> that's exactly it. >> crawl under the podium. >> after the laughing subsided in the crowd. >> that was a pretty good one. >> i think that's my best. >> he's being polite. he's not hitting his bell until she is through. >> here's the next parker video. >> george bush taking credit for the berlin wall coming down is

carter debate with ronald reagan where he said there you go again, calling the sitting president a liar basically. that's when carter started collapsing. you've got a few moments to make the one-liners catch and stick. all of the substance will get lost in the minutia. romney needs one worse than the president right now. >> instead of o owe is it like trying to figure out what the zinger is going to be that will get retweeted on a hash tag? >> yes, that it is. >> it makes me so sad. >> well, yes. as you said, the stakes are higher for mitt romney. keep this mind, this is a man who has been running for president for six years. >> right. >> it's come down to this one moment, this first debate on wednesday where he's got to change the trajectory of his campaign, of the narrative with at that point, what is it 35 days in the race. >>> yeah. >> you're the political scientist here. you're the nerd here at the table. just to my mind, i do not see how practically speaking mitt romney can change the trajectory and move his campaign into a positive position with so little time. >> you're a big ne

candidate for president runs against jimmy carter and ronald reagan. president jimmy carter absolutely opposed john anderson's participation, and the league had a choice. do they support the independent candidate's participation or do they capitulate to the demands of jimmy carter? the league did the right thing, they stood up for the united states and invited john anderson. passed for four years later. the walter mondale and ronald reagan campaign's vetoed 80 of the moderator that the league of women voters have proposed for the debates. never try to get rid of difficult questions. 8-0. 80. the league then held a press conference and lambast the campaigns for trying to get rid of the difficult questions. of course there was an outcry. the result was fantastic. for the next debate, the campaign were required to accept the lead's moderators. four more years later and you have the michael this caucus and george bush campaign's drafting the first ever 12-page secret debate contract. they gave it to the league of women voters and said implement this. they said, are you kidding m

1992. >>Ñi thereçóñr guagain. >> brown: those zingers from ronald reagan that wounded jimmy cartener 1980. in the documentary "debating our destiny" jim went back to talk to candidates about their experience of the debates and had the chance to ask whether they prepared famous lines ahead of time. >> lehrer: i asked ronald reagan about, "there you go again," and a couple of others. "no, no, it just came to me." >> no it just seemed to be the thing to say and what he was saying up there. >> brown: did you believe him? >> lehrer: i don't know if i did or i didn't. i found it interesting that nobody wants to admit. >> brown: another major moment came in 2000 with vice president al gore rolling his eyes and loudly sighing during his debate with then-texas governor george w. bush. the whole world knew it,Ñi excet for the third man on the stage that night inÑi boston. >> you didn" know it was happening. >> lehrer: i didn't know it because under my personal rules, i ask candidatasm a question, ii look only at candidate a. i never look atÑi candidate b., because i don't want to be involv

commerce for george h.w. bush and special assistant to ronald reagan. not the best image management. you specialize in crisis management. some compare to marie antoine e antoinette. all these cuts coming on and he's walking around smoking a stogy. >> a woman is a woman, because good cigar is a smoke, i say. >> you you may say that, but doesn't go down very well. >> you can't smoke inside, so i guess he figured he had to take the opportunity. it probably isn't the best image for a national figure to be smoking at all let along in public, let alone during a crisis, let alone on the streets of man hat continue. let's put a positive spin on it. perhaps it is his way of helping control his nerves. >> this is a prime minister that come and has promised all sorts of things when he got elected. once that starts happening, how on earth do you control it from a crisis management pr perspective? >> if we could control it, we'd all be rich. what we tried to do, what i'm sure his advisers are trying to do is to keep him cool, keep him focused. they've made a lot of announcements in the last day

remember suzanne, the talk about ronald reagan in that debate? >> right. >> do you recall that? >> that's right. >> all this talk about ronald reagan and whether obama had sort of invoked the name of ronald reagan because so many democrats didn't like him or whatever. well senator obama then took the punches, explained what he said about reagan and took it back to her, keeping the anger under control, finding balance and pushing back hard just not too hard. >> it was interesting too as well you could ask the most dry mundane question, dealing with the economy. they would go back to the talking points in the attacks. it was clear they were trying to score points. fireworks. a "game change"er if you will. i want you to see here's mitt romney in a scenario that played out in the debates, the primaries with rick perry in las vegas. >> i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> you get 30 seconds. this is the way the rules work here. in get 60 seconds and then you get 30 donds respond. anderson -- >> you say -- you knew. >> would you please wait? are you just going keep talking? let me finish what i have

became. the big issue, big change began in 198 1980 that goes with the election of ronald reagan ronald reagan brought with them to washington a very underrated figure in a recent american history, somehow i don't think gets his due as an important person. that's edwin meese because edwin meese at first was in flash and then attorney general. said look, there has been a liberal agenda at the supreme court. there needs to be a conservative agenda at the supreme court. what was that agenda? expand executive power and end racial preferences, speed up execution, welcome religion into the public sphere, and above all, reverse roe v. wade and allow states once again to ban abortion. a big part of the reagan revolution was the arrival of washington of a group of young and committed conservative lawyers who wanted to work in that, on behalf of that agenda, who were two of the best and the brightest of that group? john roberts and samuel alito. 1970 -- in 1985, a memo at the solicitor general's office, alito wrote what can be made of this opportunity to advance the goal of bringing about the eve

again. they can be game changers. 1980, ronald reagan was where romney was, behind in the polls. reagan came on and took on an incumbent president, jim cia why ther, performed well in the debates and the rest is history. it started him on his way to a landslide victory in 1980. >> do you think debates actually help voters decide which person to back if they're on the fence as to which direction to go? >> i think they make a difference, particularly for mitt romney. look, barack obama, whether you love him or dislike him, think he's a great leader or think he's failed, we kind of know what he's going to be like as president. we've had him for 3 1/2 years. mitt romney is still an open book. people have to say, do i want to live with this guy every day? is he going to be quick on his feet? how prone is he to gaffes? does he know how to spar? does he show an inner toughness? in truth the pressure is on mitt romney on this first debate to seem to be -- at least get parity with president obama or victory with the immediate pundit analysis after the game. >> when you have a challenger

needs to try to do that a little. i would hope they've prepared jokes. ronald reagan was good at the jokes. you also have to know how to deliver them. >> absolutely. >> you can have great jokes written, but if you say them at the wrong minute it will backfire. >> a couple seconds left. what's your favorite debate moment in history? >> i like 1980 when ronald reagan said, ther said, "there o again." there's a whole wikipedia site on that quote. it allowed ronald reagan to triumph. >> great to talk to you today. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. take care. >> lots to look forward to next week. all right, what would you do for the man or woman you love? up next, how this man made his girlfriend's dream come true. stay with us. [ owner ] i need to expand to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other b

. all right. at that point, the incumbent president was jimmy carter. the challenger was ronald reagan. everybody knows how the election came out that year. that's not what we're talking ant here. what we're talking about is who won that first debate. incumbent president jimmy carter or was it the challenger, ronald reagan? >> leaving cleveland this morning, the president had a message for anyone who thought reagan had come across better in the debate. >> i think the issues are more important than the performance. >> the president is visibly more relaxed today than he was on the stage with governor reagan last night. since there's no way to know yet for sure which man helped himself the most, it's likely that the president is simply relieved that the debate that many of his advisers never wanted in the first place is finally behind him. >> relieved that it is over. so that was the coverage the day after the reagan/carter debate. because reagan went on to win the election that year, retrospectively that 1980 debate has been inviewed with a lot of over the top reagan worship stuff about his there y

back to point. the way ronald reagan did in his debate against jimmy carter. people don't remember all the facts and figures, the recitation of the facts and figures, they remember a significant line or a significant phrase that brings them back to reality. >> senator john mccain is the only man who has debated both of these individuals. he weighed in on the expectations this morning. take a listen. >> serve and provide us -- >> it's not just that they go bankrupt, he doesn't understand -- >> comments that grabbed everybody's attention. because frankly, the candidates are too well prepared. they're well scripted. >> what you did not hear the beginning there, is the senator said i think you're going to see more viewers, than any debate in history. and then he also said he can't remember the last time that any of these things affected the outcome of a presidential race. save 1960 and 2000, have the debates ever really impacted the outcome of a race, chris kofinis? >> it's funny, i hear the debate about debates not necessarily mattering. and i actually disagree with that i think the 1

republican experience in the past three decades. ronald reagan made a deal with tip o'neil. it was for tax increases and spending control. >> hurt republicans when they ran for office, didn't it? >> they got the tax increases. they didn't get spending cuts. he got the tax increases ch he didn't get the spending cuts. >> do you think it was a governing mistake. if he gets elected president, is he going to regret that? >> i think the crisis we face financially is so severe that all the discussion of finances last night, you can fergs. we don't have the money to expand the military. we don't have the money you have to overhaul sos to keep it sound. >> he wants to spend more money in the military. do you think that's a mistake? >> the money isn't there. >> david, this is where the obama campaign wants to go. it's saying, yes, we lost on style. but romney made himself -- mean, senator, it's a complicated argument he's making on these issues. >> absolutely. and it's going to make sense after the the election. we're facing a fiscal cliff. all the consumers will come into play. and i obama cam

, if not direct. mitt romney, and i'm not comparing it to 1980 and ronald reagan being an appealing alternative, but jimmy carter, not a bad alternative. i think that could eat into the president's support and more than just the undecided voter support. what do you think? >> not necessarily. because what voters too often and we see this and a lot of data. they complain and gripe, especially well as down in the polls. when it comes down to it on election day they usually hold their nose, suck it up and vote for their party leader. that is why we have undecided voters. usually if you're a member of your party by election day you aren't going to vote for the guy neil: i know you do this in far more exhaustive detail that idea, but i am old and remember 1980 and to remember that the undecided voters at the time, jumped either ronald reagan or jimmy carter. it turns out a lot more did. i'm not saying that there is some truth to what you're saying. those who are leery of that party or the candidate of that party would jump, could jump if they are disenchanted enough with their own who cho

michael dukakis. you really do have to go back to ronald reagan to find a republican that was in command during a presidential debate. and i predict that's going to excite the republican base in a way it hasn't been excited in a very long time. we're not used to winning debates like this. >> right. >> i'd even -- i think you're exactly right. and i'd push back even farther. he was better than nixon. and he was better than ford. so you could argue, except for president reagan, governor reagan then, it was, in fact, the strongest republican debate performance in the history of televised debates. the other thing that i find so interesting -- and joe, i wonder what you think about this -- is this was not a tea party message. one of the reasons perhaps governor romney did so well is that this might actually be the real governor romney at last. >> yep. >> and it was a very -- people could take me on on this, i would argue that was a mainstream conservative message that could have been largely unchanged except for the tales from 1980 forward. and that is something that's very different.

time. i talked about tip o'neill and ronald reagan of the 1980s. didn't see eye to eye. they got things done. '90s you and bill clinton. a fascinating character. you guys obviously didn't see eye to eye. you got things done. and bill clinton is having a huge impact in this race. rich lowry of course of the national review said if you want to see when this election turned it was in the middle of bill clinton's speech. this guy still -- you said something about georgia ads. what was that? >> i was told last night by randy evans who is the national committeeman from georgia that there are more ads in georgia for obama with clinton in them than there are with obama in them. which makes sense. you know, bill clinton is the best political figure in terms of skill since ronald reagan. >> right. >> that's just a fact. >> right. >> and his ability to communicate, i thought his speech, which i had to watch, i actually didn't watch the obama speech. >> right. >> i watched the clinton speech. i thought it would be more creative, more interesting. and it turned out to be a lot more important.

overscripted. that is what happened to ronald reagan in 1984 debate with walter mondale. it overran the persona of ronald reagan. next debate he was much more relaxed. roger ails did a great job preparing him and did much better job. same thing with governor romney. he has to know how to answer the questions but he has to be relaxed and rely on himself. one of the things i tell candidates it's very important that they have the good political judgment to make decisions and think on their feet rather than rely on script. >> give me one thing that you think we ought to look for out of mitt romney and one thing out of obama in this debate coming up on wednesday. >>> i think one of the -- apart from the economy, i do think one thing we should be looking for is to see if the president is willing to talk about his record on the economy and defend it. the american people ought to be making a judgment whether or not the president can defend that record. he ought to be looking for governor romney how well he press the case against the president. it's been his failure to lead on the economy that h

1980, what were people looking for? ronald reagan, can he stand on the stage with president carter? will he seem presidential? we sometimes forget that president obama is the president. he'll be sharing that space. in many ways, that's the biggest and first calculation that people make. they will say, could he, governor romney, that is, have that role or not. >> and does he belong on that stage in the first place and then does he look presidential? and you're right, because ronald reagan was an actor in many people's minds, even though he was governor of california. and then they were stunned when he walked on that stage and said, i agree with most of reagan's policies but he seemed presidential. >> right. and he didn't stumble and then he was calm. he felt -- he felt like he deserved to be there. i think one of the things that governor romney has to do is not only share that he deserves to be there but that he has some substan, more than people realize. >> substantial and national review reports that romney's team thinks it's critical that romney endure himself to the american peo

to that wonderful line by ronald reagan, there you go again. >> he's admitted that your campaign has gone overboard at times with the rhetoric, are you worried that president obama is going to have a rough night with the fact-checkers wednesday night? >> absolutely not. we still believe that this is going to be a close race. but the reason, you know, governor romney is having a rough patch here is not because what we're saying about his plans, it's his plans. all right, you ought to start by looking in the mirror. people don't want to go back to the same trickle-down policies that caused the recession in the first place. obviously, he said things around the attacks in egypt and libya. also, this 47% comment, you know, i think the message that he sends to american people, if he has written off half the country, they're not his concern, so, we're happy to have a debate about our economic plans, our tax plans, where we want to take the country in terms of health care and education. by the way, it's rich. george, you covered this race very carefully. governor romney, during the prima

reagan, people forget, before the debate, ronald reagan was painted as this looney, right-wing fanatic that would start world war iii, dr. strangelove, and it was the debate that stuck a needle in that balloon. >> i remember it well. >> not even born yet. i mean, this is romney's chance. >> sure. >> to connect with the american people. >> to pick up on mike's point, fascinating number from the poll is this. 51% of people who said they had heard or read something about romney in the last couple weeks said what they had heard or read made them think more negatively about him. more positively, that number was 48%. they've heard him going into this debate. this provides them a chance to say, listen, that guy you saw in the video, that's not me. i'm a different type of person. he can reset in that sense. i'm sort of with al on this. i spent a lot of time over the past week watching all of romney's debates from 2002. i watched every single debate. there were five of them. i read hundreds of clips in 2002. he was against a democrat. >> you really should get a life. >> i know, it's pathetic. >

w. bush, ronald reagan in '84, george h.w. bush in '92, the president didn't seem to be on his game. mitt romney made a surprise appearance to a cpac event in denver still courting the conservatives but say if you know people that voted for president obama, tell them to come on over to our side. that's ironic because i don't imagine he knows many conservative republicans who voted for president obama the last time or plan to this time. nevertheless, you're no fan of governor romney. did you become a fan last night as a conservative who has doubted his credibility from the minute he entered this race? >> well, i think my credentials as a non-romney show are pretty well secured. i have good street cred for your audience. frankly, i thought mitt romney did the best job of advancing even a modicom of viewpoints and stepping up on a national stage than like when al gore invented the internet. mitt romney, unlike john mccain, mitt romney wants to win the presidency, and a lot of conservatives have asked themselves that question the past couple of weeks. i think frankly liberals ought to a

tweaked the way it was by ronald reagan and democratic speaker tip o'neill. but the basic structure is sound. but i want to talk about the values behind social security and medicare. and then talk about medicare because that's the big driver of our deficits right now. my grandmother, some of you know, helped to raise me, and my grandparents did. my grandfather died a while back, my grandmother died three days before i was elected president. and she was fiercely independent. she worked her way up only had a high school education, start as a secretary, ended up being the vice president of a local bank. and she ended up living alone by choice and the reason she could be independent was because of social security and medicare. she had worked all her life, put in this money, and understood that there was a basic guarantee, a floor under which she could not go. and that's the perspective i bring when i think about what's called entitlements. you know, the name itself implies some sense of dependency on the part of these folks. these are folks who have worked hard. like my grandmother. and

walked into a mess, right? let's stop and think about it. so did ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan, 8% growth. >> we're not debating ronald reagan. we're debating obama. >> reagan had a far worse economy than obama inherited. he said he was inheriting it and he said -- but he hasn't fixed it. >> wow. >> stephanie: wow. really reaching now, aren't you? >> they love to revise the reagan and -- as media matters has pointed out there is no comparison in terms of the economy because the fed could just change interest rates which they did, which basically fixed that economy. you know, the fed can't do anymore when you're at zero, you can't go any lower. also, the unemployment completely different story. what hannity never mentions, if you go back to -- we're going way back here. if you're going back to the closing months of the carter/reagan campaign, unemployment was going down under the last six months under jimmy carter. ronald reagan won and it skyrocketed back up. ronald reagan did not inherit climbing unemployment the way barack obama did. ronald reagan actually inherited unemployment